'Vrv- 


. JOHNSON 
The  Public  Record  Office 


1043 


HELPSFOR 
STUDENTS 
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THE  PUBLIC 
RECORD  OFFICE 


CHARLES  JOHNSON 


Ko.  4. 


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HELPS    FOR    STUDENTS    OF    HISTORY.      No.   4. 


Edited  by  C.  Johnson,  M.A..  F.S.A.,  H.  W.  V.  Temperley,  M.A  , 
AND  J.  P.  Whitney,  D.D.,  D.C.L. 


THE    PUBLIC    RECORD 

OFFICE 


BY 

CHARLES   JOHNSON,  M.A.,  F.S.A. 


SECOND   EDITION 


LONDON 

SOCIETY    FOR    PROMOTING 

CHRISTIAN     KNOWLEDGE 

NEW    YORK:   THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

1921 


First  published  1918. 


^   -p.  LIBRARY 

C  V  UNIVERSITY  OK  CALIFORNIA 

SAMA  liARRAfiA 

J  ^ 


I6ii 


THE 

PUBLIC  RECORD   OFFICE 

The  Public  Record  Office  is  one  of  the  principal 
sources  from  which  the  writers  of  English,  and 
to  some  extent  of  European  History,  derive  their 
materials.  It  is,  as  its  name  implies,  the  place  of 
deposit  of  the  Public  Records.  What  these  are, 
and  how  the  ecclesiastical  historian  may  use  them, 
it  is  the  object  of  this  paper  to  explain. 

The  Public  Records  may  be  generally  described 
as  those  documents  which  accumulate  in  the  offices 
of  the  various  departments  of  the  central  govern- 
ment in  the  ordinary  course  of  business,  and  are 
either  deliberately  preserved  for  future  reference 
or  accidentally  escape  destruction.  These  alone 
form  a  vast  assemblage  of  material,  and  present 
an  infinite  variety  in  the  degrees  of  their  historical 
importance.  To  these  must  be  added  the  docu- 
ments which  arise  in  the  custody  of  local  authorities 
in    consequence    of    the    provisions    of    various 


4  THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

statutes.  All  these  may  fairly  be  regarded  as 
"  Documents  ...  of  a  Public  Nature  belonging 
to  His  Majesty,"  and  therefore  Public  Records 
as  defined  by  the  Public  Record  Office  Act, 
1838. 

Legal  Constitution. 

Before  the  date  of  this  Act,  each  department  of 
State,  whether  administrative  or  judicial,  kept  its 
own  records,  and,  if  they  appeared  to  be  of  sufficient 
importance,  appointed  a  Record  Keeper  of  its 
own  to  look  after  them.  The  Act  made  the  Master 
of  the  Rolls,  already  the  titular  custodian  of  the 
records  of  the  Court  of  Chancery,  the  actual 
custodian  of  practically  all  judicial  records,  and 
empowered  the  Crown  to  place  all  administrative 
records  under  his  charge  and  superintendence. 
This  power  was  exercised  by  an  Order  in  Council 
in  1852. 

The  department  thus  created  was  further  en- 
trusted with  the  task,  previously  laid  upon  succes- 
sive Royal  Commissions  between  1800  and  1837, 
of  making  the  contents  of  the  records  accessible 
to  students  by  the  publication  of  abstracts  or 
"  Calendars,"  and  Lists.  A  general  record  re- 
pository was  begun  in  1851,  and  now  contains 
the  greater   part   of  the   records    in  the  custody 


THE  PUBLIC  RECOUD  OFFICE  6 

of  the  Master  of  the  Rolls,  and  a  considerable 
proportion  of  those  under  his  ehargc  and  super- 
intendence.^ 

Admission  of  Students. 

This  building  is  upon  the  portion  of  the  Rolls 
Estate  between  Chancery  Lane  and  Fetter  Lane, 
and  is  open  to  the  public  daily  from  10  a.m.  to 
4.30  p.m.  (Saturdays,  2  p.m.).  It  is  closed  from 
Good  Friday  to  Easter  Monday,  on  Whit-Monday, 
the  King's  Birthday,  the  August  Bank  Holiday, 
Christmas  Day,  and  Boxing  Day.  A  search  fee 
of  one  shilling  is  charged  for  the  inspection  of  each 
document  in  the  custody  of  the  Master  of  the  Rolls, 
a  description  roughly  comprising  the  records  of 
ancient  and  modern  Courts  of  Law,  but  no  fee  is 
charged  for  producing  the  records  of  public  de- 
partments, which  are  still  technically  in  the 
custody  of  the  departments  to  which  they  belong. 
The  search  fee  is  remitted  to  the  holders  of 
Students'  Tickets  in  the  case  of  all  documents 
of  earlier  date  than  1801.  These  tickets  may  be 
obtained  by  all  British  subjects  sending  to  the 
Secretary  a  written  application  stating  the  object 

1  For  a  full  treatment  of  this  subject  see  the  "Reports  of  the 
Royal  Commission  on  Public  Records,"  1912  (Cd.  6361,  6395-96), 
1914  (Cd.  7514-46),  aud  1919  (Cmd.  307-369). 


6  THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

of  their  search,  and  accompanied  by  a  recommenda- 
tion from  a  householder  or  other  easily  identified 
person.  Aliens  must,  however,  apply,  in  the  first 
instance,  through  their  diplomatic  representatives. 
There  is  an  official  "  Guide  to  the  Various  Classes 
of  Documents  preserved  in  the  Public  Record 
Office,"  of  which  the  third  edition  was  published 
in  1908.^  Some  of  the  more  interesting  documents 
are  exhibited  in  a  Museum,  which  occupies  the 
site  of  the  old  Rolls  Chapel,  originally  the  chapel 
of  the  house  for  converted  Jews  founded  by 
Henry  III.,  of  which  the  Master  of  the  Rolls  was 
ex-officio  Warden.  N.B. — The  Museum  is  open  from 
2  to  4  p.m.  daily,  except  Saturdays.  Parties  may 
be  admitted  at  other  times  by  special  arrangement. 

Chancery. 

Of  the  two  groups  of  documents  accessible  to  the 
public  inthe  Public  Record  Officethoseinthecustody 
of  the  Master  of  the  Rolls  are  more  interesting  to 
students  of  Church  History,  since  they  include 
almost  all  the  older  records.  The  principal  classes 
of  these  are  the  records  of  the  Chancery,  and  the 
three  Courts  of  Common  Pleas,  King's  Bench,  and 
Exchequer. 

The  distinction,  which  persists  to  the  present 
day,    between   the   Chancery   and   the   Courts   of 

*  This  is  now  out  of  print. 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE  7 

Common  Law  is  that  the  Chancery  is  fundamentally 
an  administrative  department  and  only  incidentally 
a  Court  of  Law.  It  is  closely  connected  with  the 
King's  private  chapel,  the  Chancellor  in  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  being  of  necessity 
a  clerk,  since  laymen  were  at  that  period  always 
deemed  to  be  illiterate.  The  Chancellor  wrote 
the  King's  letters  and  attached  the  King's  seal 
to  them;  he  was  originally,  in  fact,  the  King's 
domestic  chaplain  and  secretary. 

Many  of  the  King's  letters  had  to  be  written 
in  duplicate.  If,  for  instance,  an  order  was  issued 
for  the  payment  of  money,  a  counterfoil  might  be 
required  to  protect  the  Treasury  from  forgeries. 

Chancery  Enrolments. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  it 
began  to  be  found  more  convenient  to  copy  the  dupli- 
cates on  to  a  roll,  and  thus  arose  the  great  series  of 
Chancery  Enrolments  which  continues  to  this  day. 
At  first  everything  worth  registering  in  this  way 
was  entered  on  one  annual  roll,  but  as  business 
increased  new  rolls  were  begun  for  particular 
branches  of  it  which  threatened  to  overload  the 
original  roll,  and  this  process  of  subdivision  was 
continued  as  circumstances  required.  The  original 
roll  was  very  soon  reserved  for  the  specially  solemn 


8     THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

documents  known  as  Charters,^  containing  grants 
of  privileges,  or  creations  of  earldoms,  attested 
by  the  principal  members  of  the  Court,  and  bearing 
a  seal  of  green  wax  hanging  from  silken  cords. 
Another  series  of  rolls  was  begun  for  those  letters 
which  were  sent  out  open,  addressed  to  all  and 
sundry,  but  attested  by  the  King  alone.  These 
Letters  Patent^  contained  grants  of  land  or 
annuities,  commissions,  presentations  to  benefices, 
restitutions  of  temporalities,  exemptions  from 
services,  protections  from  litigation,  licences  to 
alienate  land,  to  sue  by  attorney,  etc.  Here  also 
are  to  be  found  licences  for  elections  to  bishoprics, 
and  to  the  headship  of  such  religious  houses  as 
were  of  the  King's  advowson. 

This  series  of  Patent  Rolls  is  further  subdivided 
into  special  series,  of  which  the  most  important 
for  Church  History  are  the  Confirmation  Rolls,^ 
which  renew  and  supplement  the  original  series 
of  Charter  Rolls,  since  the  charters  confirmed 
include  some  of  earlier  date  than  the  series  of  enrol- 
ments as  well  as  many  private  deeds;  the  Bishops' 
Patent  Rolls,*  containing  Conges  d'Elire,  Royal 
Assents,  and   Restitutions   of  Temporalities;   and 

1  Charter  Rolls,  1  John  to  8  Henry  VIII. 

2  Patent  Rolls,  8  John  to  3  George  V. 

3  Confirmation  Rolls,  1  Richard  III.  to  1  Charles  I. 

i  Bishops'  Patent  Rolls,  9  George  III.  to  38  Victoria. 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE  9 

Dispensation  Rolls/  containing  confirmations  of 
Bishops'  Commendaras,  Dispensations  and  Notarial 
Faculties,  and  "  Lambeth  Degrees." 

The  second  great  series,  known  as  Close  Rolls,- 
took  the  place  of  the  "  Contrabrevia,"  the  files  of 
duplicate  orders  for  the  delivery  of  lands  or  pay- 
ment of  money  already  mentioned.  These,  at- 
tested by  the  King  alone,  like  the  Letters  Patent, 
differed  from  them  in  being  addressed  to  individuals 
and  sent  out  folded  up,  so  that  they  could  not  be 
opened  without  detaching  the  seal.  From  the 
fourteenth  century  till  the  present  day  deeds 
enrolled  in  the  Chancery  have  been  enrolled  on 
the  back  of  the  Close  Roll,  and  here  will  be  found 
Foundation  Deeds  of  Church  Schools  and  of  new 
Parishes.^  The  Close  Rolls  became  subdivided 
much  earlier  than  the  Patent  Rolls,  and  from 
A.D.  1227  onwards  all  warrants  for  the  payment 
of  money,  either  out  of  the  Treasury  or  by  Sheriffs 
and  other  accountants,  and  for  the  allowance  at 
the  Exchequer  of  sums  due  on  the  various 
accounts,  were  enrolled  on  a  separate  roll  known 
as  the  Liberate  Roll.*    These  warrants  often  relate 

1  Dispensation  Rolls,  37  Elizabeth  to  1747. 

2  Close  Rolls,  2  John  to  1903. 

3  A  Calendar  of  the  Trust  Deeds  relating  to  Charities  enrolled 
in  pursuance  of  the  Act  of  1736,  is  printed  as  an  Appendix  to 
the  Thirty-second  Report  of  the  Deputy  Keeper. 

*  Liberate  Rolls,  10  Henry  III.  to  14  Henry  VI. 

2 


10         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

to  church  building  or  gifts  of  ornaments,  and  are 
full  of  archaeological  detail. 

The  third  great  series  of  rolls  ^  was  concerned 
with  the  sums  of  money  which  were  promised  to 
the  King  in  return  for  privileges  or  lands  which 
he  had  the  power  to  give.  These  promises  were 
either  made  good  by  payments  into  the  Exchequer, 
or  in  some  cases  to  the  King  direct,  but  since  the 
grant  sought  for  did  not  take  effect  unless  the 
promise  was  fulfilled,  it  was  necessary  to  keep  a 
record  of  the  transaction  until  it  was  completed. 
It  soon  became  the  rule  to  send  a  duplicate  of 
this  roll  and  of  the  relevant  portions  of  other 
rolls  (the  so-called  "  Originate ")  into  the  Ex- 
chequer. In  course  of  time  this  roll  was  used 
for  recording  certain  appointments,  e.g.,  of  Sheriffs 
and  Constables  of  Castles,  as  well  as  certain 
financial  measures. 

Besides  these  main  classes,  special  series  were 
from  time  to  time  formed  to  deal  with  specific 
subjects.  Thus  there  are  Gascon  Rolls,  dealing 
with  English  possessions  in  Gascony;  Scottish  Rolls 
for  relations  with  Scotland;  Treaty  Rolls  (including 
Almain  and  French  Rolls)  for  other  diplomatic 
and  foreign  matters;  and  a  few  Roman  Rolls 
(sometimes   endorsed    on   the   French    Rolls),   for 

1  Fine  Rolls,  1  John  to  23  Charles  I. 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE         11 

letters  to  the  Pope  and  Cardinals.  These  series 
include  all  classes  of  letters,  as  do  the  rolls  made 
up  when  the  King  was  abroad  for  the  business 
transacted  by  him  during  his  travels. 

Chancery  Files. 

In  addition  to  these  rolls,  or  registers  of  letters 
issued  under  the  Great  Seal,  the  Chancery  accumu- 
lated a  great  series  of  files  on  which  were  strung 
the  documents  which  it  received  from  various 
sources.  Here  were  to  be  found  the  diplomatic 
and  political  correspondence  of  the  King  and  his 
Chancellor,  and  the  drafts  of  many  of  the  letters 
sent  out,  as  also  such  of  the  letters  or  writs  as 
were  returned  to  the  Chancery  with  the  answers 
endorsed  or  annexed.  As  time  went  on,  particular 
classes  of  these  were  filed  in  separate  series.  More- 
over, in  course  of  time  the  strings  of  the  files 
broke,  and  successive  Record  Keepers  classified 
their  contents  on  such  plans  as  seemed  good  to 
each  of  them  respectively.  From  these  causes 
arise  the  existing  series,  the  most  interesting  of 
which  are  the  Ancient  Correspondence  (formerly 
known  as  Royal  Letters),  which  contain  matters 
both  of  political  and  ecclesiastical  interest;^  the 
Inquisitions,   containing   reports   on   the   holdings 

1  Ancient  Correspondence,  Vols.  1-44,  55-57. 


12         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

of  deceased  Tenants-in-Chief,  on  the  damage 
likely  to  ensue  to  the  Crown  from  proposed  aliena- 
tions of  land  in  Mortmain,  and  on  other  subjects;^ 
the  Guild  Certificates,  which  record  the  objects  of 
the  various  religious  and  trade  guilds  existing  in 
1389,^  and  the  various  documents  of  ecclesiastical 
interest  included  in  Bundles  15  to  21  of  the  Mis- 
cellanea. These  last  contain  returns  by  the 
Bishops  of  presentations  to  benefices,  sometimes 
extracted  from  registers  no  longer  in  existence, 
returns  of  benefices  held  by  aliens,  visitations  of 
hospitals,  etc. 

Among    the    later    series    are    the    "  Cardinal's 
Bundles,"  containing  Inquisitions  relating  to  the 
monasteries  surrendered  to  Cardinal  Wolsey,  and 
others  taken  after  his  death;  the  "  Commonwealth 
Surveys "    of    Church    livings    ordered    in    1649, 
which  need  supplementing  by  the  large  series  of 
transcripts  at  Lambeth;   and  the  Proceedings  of 
Commissioners  for  Charitable  Uses,  who  from  time 
to  time  inquired  into  complaints  against  the  ad- 
ministration of  charities.     There  are  also  the  purely 
personal   "  Sacrament   Certificates  "   for  the  later 

1  Inquisitions  Post  Mortem:  Series  I.,  Henry  III.  to 
Richard  III.;  Series  II.,  Henry  VII.  to  Charles  I.  Ad  quod 
Damnum,  Henry  III.  to  Richard  III.  Criminal,  Henrj'  III.  to 
Richard  II.     Miscellaneous,  Henry  HI.  to  Richard  III. 

*  Miscellanea  (Chancery),  Bundles,  38-46. 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE  13 

years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  showing  the 
names  of  persons  who  had  fulfilled  the  require- 
ments of  the  Test  Act. 

Chancery  Warrants. 

There  is,  however,  a  more  important  class  of 
files  than  any  yet  mentioned,  viz.,  the  class  of 
Warrants.^  As  the  business  of  the  Court  increased, 
and  with  it  the  number  of  letters  daily  issuing 
under  the  Great  Seal,  the  establishment  of  the 
Chancery  became  too  large  to  follow  the  King  in 
his  travels  so  closely  as  it  did  in  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries.  The  difficulty  -was  met  partly 
by  the  delimitation  of  authority  and  the  standard- 
izing of  certain  forms  of  writ,  partly  by  the  use  of 
a  smaller  seal,  which  at  first  accompanied  the  King 
in  all  his  journeys.  As  early  as  the  reign  of 
Henry  II.  there  were  already  certain  classes  of 
Original  and  Judicial  Writs  the  forms  of  which 
were  fixed,  and  for  which  the  payment  of  the  usual 
fees  was  sufficient  warrant.  Later  legislation  added 
to  the  number  of  these  forms,  and  further  gave  the 
clerks  or  "  masters  "  of  the  Chancery  power  to 
frame   writs,   within   certain   very   narrow   limits, 

1  Warrants  for  the  Great  Seal:  Series  I.,  Henry  III.  to  Richard 
III.;  Series  II.,  Henry  VII.  to  Henry  VIII.;  Series  III.,  Edward 
VI.  to  Anne;  Series  IV.,  George  I.  to  William  IV.;  Series  V., 
Victoria. 


14  THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

to  fit  particular  cases.  Again,  certain  classes  of 
cases  were  within  the  competence  of  the  Chancellor. 
Outside  these  limits  the  royal  authority  was  re- 
quired for  the  use  of  the  Great  Seal,  and  it  might 
be  conveyed  either  by  word  of  mouth,  or  by  a 
messenger,  or  by  a  document  sealed  with  the  King's 
Privy  Seal.  These  sealed  warrants  were  filed  as 
received,  and  memoranda  of  the  less  formal 
warrants  were  often  filed  with  them.  They  have 
since  been  re-classified  according  to  their  nature, 
and  frequently  supplement  the  information  ob- 
tainable from  the  enrolments. 

The  same  system  was  observed  with  respect  to 
the  documents  required  to  give  precision  to  these 
Royal  Warrants,  or  to  justify  the  issue  of  writs 
which  the  Chancellor  sent  out  in  virtue  of  his 
general  powers.  These  might  proceed  either  from 
other  departments  of  State  or  from  the  applicants 
themselves.  The  most  interesting  ecclesiastically 
are  the  certificates  of  Election  to  Bishoprics  or 
Prelacies,  Significations  of  Excommunication,  and 
applications  for  secular  aid  for  the  apprehension 
of  wandering  religious  who  had  escaped  from  the 
houses  to  which  they  belonged. 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE         15 

Parliament  and  Council. 

Besides  the  documents  of  its  own  office  the 
Chancery  was  the  place  of  deposit,  at  all  events 
for  a  considerable  time,  of  the  records  of  Parliament 
and  of  the  Council.  Hence  the  series  of  Statute 
Rolls,^  Parliament  Rolls,  and  Council  and  Parlia- 
mentary Proceedings,  Parliamentary  Proxies,  and 
that  part  of  the  class  of  "  Ancient  Petitions " 
which  derives  from  the  files  of  petitions  originally 
presented  in  Parliament.  In  many  cases  the 
remedies  granted  by  Parliament  to  the  petitioners 
involved  the  sanction  to  new  forms  of  writ,  and 
it  seems  possible  that  the  remission  by  Parliament, 
and  in  other  cases  by  the  King  in  Council,  to  the 
Chancellor  of  matters  demanding  detailed  inquiry 
or  special  treatment  gave  rise  to  the  independent 
jurisdiction  of  the  Chancery. 

Equity  Records. 

This  later  and  derivative  function  of  the 
Chancery  as  a  Court  of  Law  has  somewhat  over- 
shadowed its  original  importance  as  an  office. 
The   legal   records   consist    primarily   of   "  Bills " 

i  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  is  a  schedule  to  the  Act  of 
Uniformity  (14  Charles  II.),  and  two  sealed  copies  of  it  exist  in 
the  Chancery  Records,  one  each  in  those  of  the  Exchequer,  King's 
Bench,  and  Common  Pleas. 


16         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

petitioning  for  redress  in  oases  where  no  remedy 
could  be  had  at  Common  Law,  and  of  the 
"  Answers  "  to  these  Bills,  and  of  the  Writs  of 
Subpoena  and  Attachment  and  other  means  of 
getting  cases  into  Court  or  enforcing  awards. 
The  great  classes  of  "  Decrees  and  Orders " 
and  "  Reports  and  Certificates,"  and  the  files  of 
"  Affidavits  "  only  begin  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, when  the  Court  had  had  a  long  life  as  a 
Court  of  Conscience  and  was  beginning  to  acquire 
legal  forms  and  principles  of  its  own.  Its  pro- 
ceedings are  of  special  interest  owing  to  its  exclusive 
jurisdiction  in  Trusts,  many  of  which  were  for 
religious  purposes.^ 

Besides  its  Equitable  jurisdiction,  in  which 
proceedings  were  begun  by  "  English  Bill,"  the 
Chancery  also  had  a  Common-Law  jurisdiction, 
the  proceedings  in  which  were  in  Latin.^  This 
was  partly  administrative,  consisting  in  proceedings 
on  Petition  of  Right,  Traverses  of  Inquisitions, 
proceedings  on  "  Scire  Facias  "  for  the  revocation 

1  Chancery  Proceedings.  Early  (Richard  II.  to  Mary):  Series  I. 
(EHzabeth  to  Charles  I.),  Series  II.  (Elizabeth  to  ComnionM^ealth) ; 
Six  Clerks'  Series  (1649-1714,  1714-1758,  1758-1800,  1800-1842); 
Modern  Series  (1842-1852,  1853-1860,  1861-1900);  Affidavits 
(1611-1900);  Depositions  (Elizabeth-Charles  I.,  1649-1714,  1714- 
1842,  1842-1852,  1852-1869,  1870-1880,  1880-1899);  Entry  Books 
of  Decrees  and  Orders  (36  Henry  VIII.  to  I'JOO);  Reports  and 
Certificates  (1544-1900) 

3  "  Piacita  in  Cancellaria,"  Edward  I.  to  Victoria. 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE         17 

of  Letters  Patent,  and  for  the  enforcement  of 
Recognizances  enrolled  in  the  Chancery,  or  Bonds 
under  the  Statutes  of  Merchants  and  of  the  Staple, 
partly  in  virtue  of  the  general  principle  that  a 
Court  has  exclusive  jurisdiction  in  all  matters 
affecting  its  own  officers.  It  did  not,  however, 
like  the  Exchequer,  exercise  this  jurisdiction  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  compete  for  business  with 
the  Courts  of  Common  Law. 

The  Exchequer. 

As  the  Chancery  springs  from  the  King's  private 

chapel,  so  does  the  Exchequer  from  his  private 

treasure  chest.     From  it  the  King  drew  the  sums 

required  for  his  expenses,  and  into  it  were  paid 

the  various  sums  of  money  which  were  collected 

by    his    officers,    the    Sheriffs,    who    administered 

his   estates   and   levied   his   dues   throughout   the 

kingdom.     The  illiterate   Chamberlains  who  held 

the  keys  kept  their  accounts  by  cutting  notches 

in  sticks,  or  tallies — which  they  then  split,  handing 

the  one  portion,  or  "  stock,"'^  as  a  receipt  to  the 

person  paying  the  money,  and  retaining  the  other 

portion,  or  "  foil,"  themselves.     Twice  a  year,  at 

Michaelmas  and  Easter,  the  King  and  his  Court 

held  an  audit.     The  Sheriffs  were  summoned,  the 

1  Whence  "  Stocks  and  Shares." 

8 


18         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

stocks  and  foils  were  joined,  and  the  balance  of 
indebtedness  was  settled.  As  business  increased, 
the  use  of  writing  became  necessary,  and  an 
ecclesiastical  ofRcial,  the  Treasurer,  was  added  as 
a  colleague  to  the  Chamberlains.  But  the  auditors 
and  accountants  being  alike  illiterate,  the  public 
audit  had  to  be  conducted  by  the  use  of  a  counting- 
board,  or  abacus,  which  took  the  form  of  a 
chequered  cloth,  upon  which  the  calculations  were 
made  by  means  of  counters  disposed  in  rows  and 
columns  in  such  a  way  that  the  process  of  calcula- 
tion would  be  plain  even  to  persons  who  could 
not  read  and  write.  These  audits  were  called 
Exchequers  after  the  abacus  or  Chequer-Board 
employed,  and  the  results  were  written  down  in 
a  Great  Roll. 

Treasuky. 

The  Exchequer,  to  give  the  whole  organization 
its  common  name,  thus  consisted  of  three  sections, 
the  Treasury,  the  Exchequer  of  Receipt,  and  the 
Exchequer  of  Account.  Each  of  these  produced 
its  own  group  of  records.  The  Treasury,  to  begin 
with,  served  as  the  first  national  Record  Office, 
as  well  as  a  receptacle  for  money  and  for  the  Crown 
Jewels.  Here,  accordingly,  were  kept  the  original 
Treaties  with  foreign  Powers,   Papal  Bulls,   Title 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE  19 

Deeds  of  the  Crown  Lands,  and  documents  of 
special  political  importance.^  Here  also  were 
Domesday  Book  and  the  rolls  of  the  Courts  of 
King's  Bench  and  Common  Pleas  and  of  the 
Justices  in  Eyre.  Of  special  interest  are  the 
Registers  showing  the  issue  and  receipt  of  jewels 
and  records,  and  the  "  Kalendars  "  of  the  latter 
with  descriptions  of  the  contents  of  the  boxes  in 
which  they  were  placed,  and  the  marks  and  labels 
by  which  they  were  distinguished.  Here,  too,  were 
kept  the  accounts  and  other  documents  of  loans  by 
foreign  merchants,  of  the  Mint,  and  of  certain 
direct  payments  of  treasure  for  military  and  naval 
purposes.^ 

Receipt. 

Closely  connected  with  the  Treasury,  and  under 
the  control  of  the  same  officials,  was  the  Exchequer 
of  Receipt,  or  Lower  Exchequer,  which  performed 
the  daily  business  of  receiving  and  paying  money, 
and  kept  the  national  Cash  Account.  Here, 
besides  the  wooden  tallies  already  mentioned, 
rolls  were  kept,  at  first  term  by  term,  but  soon  in 
regular  journal  form,  recording  the  sums  received 
and  the  warrants  for  payment  cashed,  and  assigning 

1  Diplomatic  Documents,  Henry  I.  to  James  I.;  Papal  Bulls, 
Bundles  1-34;  Ancient  Deeds,  Series  A. 

2  Now  part  of  Accounts  (Exchequer),  etc. 


20         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

each  to  its  proper  account.^  The  Warrants  for 
Issues  and  the  "  Tellers'  Bills,"  or  notes  of  receipts, 
were  duly  filed,  and  registers  were  kept  of  warrants 
for  periodical  payments  which  continued  from 
year  to  year  without  requiring  a  fresh  warrant. ^ 
The  business  of  the  department  was  further 
complicated,  as  time  went  on,  by  the  necessity 
of  providing  for  cash  payments  .by  the  process  of 
assigning  prospective  receipts  to  secure  the  pay- 
ment of  debts  as  they  fell  due,  and  by  the  raising 
of  loans,  similarly  secured,  for  the  same  purpose. 
These  processes  were  treated  as  cash  transactions, 
although  no  money  actually  passed;  and  the  rolls 
cannot,  therefore,  be  used  as  a  guide  to  the  actual 
revenue  and  expenditure  without  comparison  and 
analysis  of  both  Receipts  and  Issues  for  the 
period  investigated.  There  were,  moreover,  at 
various  times,  other  offices  capable  of  giving  valid 
receipts  for  money  due  to  the  Crown,  so  that  the 
records  of  the  Exchequer  of  Receipt  do  not  always 
contain  a  complete  account  of  the  national  income 
and  expenditure.  The  business  of  the  department 
thus  corresponded  to  the  financial  side  of  the 
operations   of  the  modern  Treasury,   and  to  the 

1  Receipt  Rolls,  John  to  22  George  III.;  Receipt  Books  (1559- 
1834);  Issue  Rolls  (Henry  III.  to  1797);  Issue  Books  (1597-1834). 
3  Order  Books,  Patent  Books,  Posting  Books,  etc. 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE  21 

work  of  its  subordinate  department  the  office  of 
the  Paymaster-General,  which  acts  as  a  kind  of 
bank  for  the  issue  of  money. 

The  records  of  the  Exchequer  of  Receipt  are 
thus  of  no  special  interest  to  ecclesiastical  history 
except  in  so  far  as  particular  receipts  or  payments 
concerned    ecclesiastical    persons   or    objects;    but 
the  Treasury  of  the  Receipt,  already  mentioned, 
in   its   capacity   of   a    Record    Office,    contained, 
amongst    other    things,    the  Acknowledgments   of 
Supremacy  made  to  Henry  VIII.,  the  Indentures 
of  Foundation  of  Henry  VII.'s  Chapel,   the  Sur- 
renders to  Cardinal's  College,  Wolsey's  Patents,  a 
collection  of  Papal  Bulls,  and  another  of  Corre- 
spondence,   the    earlier   portion   of  which   is   like 
that   preserved  in  the  Chancery,^  while  the  later 
is  of  the  nature  of  the  State  Papers,  to  which  it 
has  been  added.     There  is  a  large  body  of  Deeds 
and  Accounts  relating  to  certain  religious  houses, 
notably  Holy  Trinity,  London ;  St.  Pancras,  Lewes ; 
Ramsey  Abbey;  Wykes  Priory;  and  others.     The 
Miscellaneous  Books  also  contain  some  Ecclesiasti- 
cal Surveys,  and  documents  relating  to  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  monasteries  and  to  Aske's  Rebellion, 
as  well  as  to  the  foundation  of  Wolsey's  Colleges, 
and  to  St.  George's  Chapel,  Windsor. 

1  Ancient  Correspondence,  Vols.  47-52,  54,  and  58. 


22         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

Exchequer  of  Account. 

The  Exchequer  of  Account  or  "  Upper  Ex- 
chequer," unlike  the  "  Lower  Exchequer "  just 
described,  had  no  administrative  duties,  but  origin- 
ated, as  has  been  explained,  in  special  sessions  of 
the  King's  Court  for  financial  purposes.  The 
memory  of  this  origin  was  preserved,  so  long  as 
the  Court  of  Exchequer  survived,  in  the  distinctive 
title  of  "  Barons "  by  which  its  judges  were 
known.  Even  in  the  earliest  stages  of  its  history 
of  which  we  have  any  direct  knowledge,  the 
business  of  the  Court  had  become  too  continuous  to 
be  carried  out  in  such  a  way,  and  the  King  with 
his  Great  Officers  and  Barons  had  been  replaced 
by  a  permanent  staff  of  deputies  called  by  the 
names  of  the  officers  whom  they  represented,  and 
presided  over  by  the  Treasurer.  The  primary 
business  of  the  Court  was  the  supervision  of  the 
collection  by  the  Sheriffs  of  the  revenue  arising 
in  each  county  from  the  Crown  Lands,  and  from 
the  profits  of  justice,  feudal  incidents,  wrecks, 
treasure-trove,  and  other  casual  profits:  taxes, 
such  as  Danegeld:  and  the  various  "Fines" 
offered  to  the  King  in  exchange  for  procedural 
advantages,  or  on  the  conclusion  of  a  rich  marriage. 
Out  of  this  revenue  the  Sheriff  had  to  meet  certain 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE         23 

regular  charges,  and  also  to  make  such  provision 
as  might  be  required  for  the  King's  personal  needs 
and  the  maintenance  of  his  castles  or  armies. 
The  balance  was  paid  in  at  Easter  and  Michaelmas, 
in  coin,  into  the  Lower  Exchequer,  where  the 
Sheriff  received  a  "  tally  "  showing  the  nominal 
amount  paid  in.  An  assay  was  made  of  the  money 
so  paid,  so  that  the  payments  on  certain  accounts 
could  be  reduced  to  their  equivalents  in  silver  of 
standard  weight  and  fineness.  New  tallies  were 
made  in  the  Upper  Exchequer  for  these  sums,  and 
the  account  between  the  Sheriff  and  the  Crown 
was  adjusted  accordingly,  the  final  balance  being 
struck  at  the  Michaelmas  Exchequer  on  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Sheriff's  year  of  office. 

Pipe  Rolls. 

The  account  for  each  county  was   enrolled   on 

one  of  the  sheets  or  "  pipes  "  of  the  yearly  Great 

Roll  of  the  Exchequer  or  "  Pipe  Roll."     This  was 

the  Treasurer's  Roll,  and  a  duplicate  of  it  was  drawn 

up  at  the   same   time  for   the  Chancellor   whose 

business  it  was  to  act  as  a  check  on  the  Treasurer. 

These  rolls  were  the  main  record  of  the  Court,  and 

continued  to  be  drawn  up  until   the  abolition  of 

the  ancient  Exchequer  system  in  1832.^ 

1  Pipe  Rolls  (31   Henry  I.  to  2  William  IV);    Chancellors' 
Rolls  (Henry  II.  to  2  William  IV.). 


24         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

In  consequence  of  the  penal  legislation  of 
Elizabeth  against  Roman  Catholics  and  Non- 
conformists it  became  necessary  in  1591  to  assign 
a  separate  roll  for  the  accounts  of  the  fines  imposed 
for  "  Recusancy,"  or  failure  to  attend  divine 
service.  This  series,  like  that  of  the  Great  Rolls 
of  which  it  formed  a  part,  was  in  duplicate,  and 
continued  until  1690,  when  it  was  brought  to  a 
close  by  the  operation  of  the  Toleration  Act  of 
1689.  These  rolls  afford  a  great  deal  of  informa- 
tion as  to  the  names  of  individual  recusants, 
but  cannot  be  safely  used  for  statistical  purposes, 
owing  to  the  varying  degrees  of  severity  with  which 
the  law  was  administered  in  different  counties.^ 

Foreign  Accounts. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  Great  Roll,  which 
was  at  least  as  characteristic  of  the  Court  as  the 
Chequered  Cloth  itself,  made  no  pretence  to 
contain  a  general  account  of  the  national  finances. 
An  account  of  the  state  of  the  Treasury  was  certainly 
taken  in  early  times,  but,  if  enrolled  at  all,  it  ap- 
peared on  the  Great  Roll  of  the  Receipt,  not  that 
of  the  Upper  Exchequer.  In  the  same  way  such 
accounts,  other  than  county  accounts,  as  found  their 
way  on  to  the  Great  Roll,  were  entered  as  subsidiary 

*  Recusant  Rolls  (Exch.  L.T.R.);  Pipe  Series;  Chancellors' 
Series. 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE  25 

to  the  accounts  of  counties,  under  one  or  other 
of  which  any  balance  due  to  the  Crown  was  ulti- 
mately accounted  for.  These  "  Foreign  Accounts  " 
gradually  came  to  include  all  kinds  of  depart- 
mental receipts  and  expenditure:  Customs  and 
Subsidies,  the  Mint,  Forests,  Lands  temporarily 
or  permanently  in  the  hands  of  the  Crown,  Mines, 
Possessions  in  Ireland  or  France:  so  also  the 
expenses  of  the  King's  Household,  Army,  Navy, 
and  Diplomatic  expenditure,  and  Public  Works. 
These  accounts  became  so  important  that  they  had 
to  have  a  special  section  of  the  Great  Roll  allotted 
to  them,  which  at  last  became  a  separate  series  of 
rolls,  known  as  the  "  Roll  of  Accounts,"  or  "  Foreign 
Roll."  About  the  same  time  a  special  department 
of  the  Exchequer  was  created  for  the  settlement  of 
the  balances  due  on  these  accounts,  many  of  which 
had  previously  been  dealt  with  by  the  King's 
Wardrobe,  which  in  earlier  times  had  controlled 
all  military,  naval,  and  diplomatic  expenditure. 
The  balances  so  determined  were  dealt  with  by  the 
full  Exchequer. 

The  Remembrancers. 

Two  officers,  who  gradually  came  to  be  known  as 
the  "  King's  "  and  the  *'  Lord  Treasurer's  "  Re- 
membrancers,  had,   from  very  early  times,   kept 


26  THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

note  of  the  questions  arising  on  the  county  accounts 
which   could   not   be   immediately   determined   in 
the  ordinary  sessions  of  the  Court.     These  "  Memo- 
randa," like  the  Great  Roll,  were  kept  in  duplicate, 
and  the  annual  rolls  containing  them  were  extended 
so  as  to  record  the  decisions  of  the  Court  on  dis- 
puted points,  the  receipt  and  issue  of  writs,  and 
the  general  course  of  business.     In  the  reign  of 
Edward  II.,   when  the  system  of  "  Foreign  Ac- 
counts "  was  established,  the  functions  of  the  two 
Remembrancers  were  formally  differentiated,  and 
two  separate  departments  were  formed.     That  of 
the  King's  Remembrancer  undertook  the  settlement 
of  the   "  onus,"   or  balance  due,    on  the   several 
accounts;    while    that    of     the    Treasurer's    Re- 
membrancer was  charged  with  the  issue  of  process 
to  recover  the  balances  recorded  as  due  on  the 
Great    Roll.     To    the    former,    therefore,    belong 
the  particulars   of  account  and  vouchers  put  in 
by  the  accountants,  to  the  latter  the  summonses 
by  which  the  debts  were  levied.     The  Pipe  Office, 
which  drew  up  and  kept  the  Great  Roll,  thus  be- 
came intimately  connected  with  the  Lord  Treasurer's 
Remembrancer.     Thus,     while    the    accounts    in 
their  final  form  are  among  the  records  of  these 
allied  departments,   the  details,   which   are  often 
more  interesting,  must  be  sought  in  the  particulars 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE  27 

and  vouchers  which  came  into  the  custody  of  the 
King's  Remembrancer.^ 

Like  the  Chancery,  the  Exchequer  had  its  files; 
these  were  subsidiary  to  the  Memoranda  Rolls, 
and  contained  the  writs  addressed  to  the  Treasurer 
and  Barons  directing  allowance  of  the  sums  ex- 
pended by  accountants  in  the  King's  service,  or 
remitted  to  them  by  his  grace,  or  giving  other 
instructions  for  the  conduct  of  business,  the  writs 
issued  by  the  Court  itself  for  the  recovery  of  the 
King's  debts  with  the  returns  to  them,  and  the 
inquisitions  taken  in  the  country  by  Exchequer 
officials  for  the  determination  of  liability  or  the 
detection  of  abuses. 

Of  special  ecclesiastical  interest  are  the  accounts 
and  assessments  of  the  Tenths  levied  on  benefices 
and  from  time  to  time  granted  to  the  King  either 
by  the  Pope  or  by  Convocation;^  of  Bishops' 
Temporalities  during  the  vacancy  of  sees;  of 
the  estates  of  Alien  Priories  taken  into  the 
King's  hands  because  the  religious  houses  to  which 
they    belonged    were    situated    in    countries    with 

1  Accounts,  etc.  (Exchequer);  Ministers'  and  Receivers' 
Accounts;  Subsidies;  Customs;  etc. 

2  A  special  case  is  the  grant  by  ParHament  in  15  Edward  III. 
of  a  "second  sheaf"  after  the  tithe  sheaf,  making  one-ninth 
of  the  annual  value.  The  assessments  for  this  were  printed 
by  the  Record  Commissioners  under  the  title  Inquiailiones 
Nonarum. 


28  THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

which  the  King  was  at  war;  and  returns  of  benefices 
held  by  ahen  clergy  contrary  to  the  statutes  of 
Provisors. 

The  Treasury  System. 

A  great  change  took  place  in  the  Exchequer  at 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  forfeitures  resulting  from 
the  Wars  of  the  Roses  brought  more  business  into 
the  Court  than  it  was  able  to  get  through,  and  it 
became  necessary  to  resort  to  an  irregular  method  of 
passing  accounts.  Accounts  were  "  declared " 
before  the  Treasurer  of  the  Chamber  and  certain 
other  auditors,  and  acquittances  given  by  them. 
These  were  legally  invalid  and  were  not  recognized 
at  the  Exchequer.  But  business  there  was  so  much 
in  arrear  that  it  became  necessary  not  only  to 
legalize  this  procedure,  but  to  introduce  it  into 
the  Exchequer  itself,  without,  however,  abolishing 
the  ancient  and  now  superfluous  "course"  of 
the  Court. 

Tudor  Innovations. 

Besides  this,  Henry  VIII.  established  a  special 
"  Court  of  General  Surveyors "  to  audit  the 
accounts  of  Crown  Lands  on  a  system  more  ex- 
peditious than  that  of  the  Exchequer,  which  had 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE         29 

long  been  in  use  in  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster.  The 
same  system  was  adopted  in  another  new  depart- 
ment, the  Court  of  Augmentations,  which  was 
estabHshed  to  deal  with  the  revenues  accruing  from 
the  suppression  of  the  monasteries,  and  to  dispose 
of  the  lands  so  acquired.  A  Court  of  Wards  and 
Liveries  was  also  set  up  to  take  over  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  lands  falling  in  owing  to  the  minority 
of  Tenants-in-Chief,  and  to  recover  the  Reliefs 
due  on  succession  to  lands  so  held.  All  these 
Courts  developed  an  equitable  jurisdiction  in  the 
matters  within  their  competence.  This  last  Court 
survived  till  the  abolition  of  feudal  tenures  by  the 
Commonwealth,  but  the  other  two  were  amalga- 
mated by  Henry  VIII.  and  reabsorbed  by  the 
Exchequer  in  the  reign  of  Mary,  forming  a  new 
subdepartment,  the  records  of  which  were  kept  in 
the  Augmentation  Office,  and  which  performed  the 
functions  now  exercised  by  the  Commissioners  of 
Woods,  Forests,  and  Land  Revenues.  These 
commissioners  took  over  such  of  the  Augmentation 
Office  records  as  were  required  for  current  purposes, 
together  with  a  considerable  number  of  earlier 
documents,  some  of  which  belonged  to  the  King's 
Remembrancer.  These  were  afterwards  removed  to 
the  Public  Record  Office,  with  which  the  Land  Rev- 
enue Record  Office  has  since  been  amalgamated. 


30         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

Almost  all  the  records  of  this  department  of  the 
Exchequer  have  some  ecclesiastical  interest.  Here 
are  the  surrenders  of  the  monasteries,  the  accounts 
which  show  how  their  possessions  were  adminis- 
tered, and  how  they  were  disposed  of,  the  leases 
of  them  granted  both  before  and  after  the  Dis- 
solution, the  original  title  deeds,  including  many- 
early  royal  and  other  charters  of  great  interest, 
and  the  warrants  for  the  pensions  granted  to  the 
last  members  of  the  surrendered  houses.  Here, 
too,  were  the  most  of  the  Returns  of  Church  Goods 
made  in  1548  and  1552,  and  the  Certificates  of 
the  EndoAvments  of  Colleges  and  Chantries  made  in 
virtue  of  the  statute  of  1547.  Here,  too,  are  the 
surveys  of  the  Crown  Lands  and  Fee  Farm  Rents 
made  between  1649  and  1653,  when  the  Parliament 
was  raising  money  by  the  sale  of  them. 

First  Fruits  and  Tenths. 

Finally,  the  assumption  by  Henry  VIII.  of  the 
title  of  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church  placed  him 
in  the  financial  position  previously  occupied  by 
the  Pope,  and  necessitated  the  taking  over  by  the 
Crown  of  the  duties  of  the  Papal  Collector  in 
England.  This  business,  like  the  management  of 
the  monastic  lands,  was  at  first  entrusted  to  a 
separate  Court,  amalgamated  with  the  Exchequer 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE         31 

by  Mary,  but  continuing  to  exist  as  a  separate  de- 
partment of  that  Court.     Its  revenues  were  derived 
from  the  "  Annates,"  or  first  year's  income  of  all 
benefices,  imposed  by  Pope  John  XXII.  and  made 
permanent  by  Pope  Boniface  IX.,  and  the  tenths 
of  the  annual  income  levied  for  the  recovery  of 
the  Holy  Land.     These  levies  were  based  on  suc- 
cessive   assessments,    the    "  Norwich  "    Taxation 
of  1254,   the  Taxation  of  Pope  Nicholas   IV.   in 
1291,  and  the  new  taxation,  or  "  Valor  Eeclesi- 
asticus,"   made  by  Hefiry  VIII.  in  1535.     These 
revenues  were  applied  by  Anne  in   1703  to  the 
augmentation    of    poor    benefices,    and    are    now 
administered    by    the    Commissioners    of    Queen 
Anne's  Bounty.     The  records  of  this  department 
accordingly  include  the  "  Valor  "  and  the  abridg- 
ment   of   it    known    as   the    "  Liber    Regis,"    the 
"  Liber  Decimarum  "  of  1709,  the  Bishops'  Certifi- 
cates of  Institutions  and  of  Benefices  not  exceed- 
ing £50  a  year,  the  Composition  Books  recording 
the    payment    of   compositions    for    First    Fruits, 
arranged  both  under  the  names  of  the  incumbents 
and    those    of   their    benefices,    and    the    various 
Accounts,   Writs,   and  Process  Books  relating  to 
the  recovery  of  the  sums  due.     They  form  the 
readiest  means  of  compiling  full  lists  of  incumbents 
of  benefices  which  were,  in  1708,  over  the  yearly 


32         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

value  of  £50.  The  valuations  of  1535  were  printed 
in  Ecton's  "  Thesaurus "  and  Bacon's  "  Liber 
Regis,"  and  the  Taxation  of  Pope  Nicholas  and  the 
"  Valor  Ecclesiasticus  "  were  printed  in  full  by 
the  Record  Commissioners. 

Exchequer  of  Pleas. 

Besides    the    administrative    functions    already- 
mentioned,  the  Exchequer,  from  very  early  times, 
had  a  concurrent  jurisdiction  with  the  Courts  of 
Common  Law.     Not  only  did  it  interfere  to  protect 
its  own  officers  from  having  to  sue  or  be  sued  in 
the  ordinary  Courts,  it  extended  this  privilege  to 
all  the  King's  (  ebtors.      Any  of  these,  by  a  writ 
of  "  Quominus,"   might  allege  that  he  was  pre- 
vented from  paying  his  debt  to  the  King  by  the 
impossibility  of  recovering  property  due  to  him 
from  other  persons,  and  thus  claim  the  intervention 
of  the  Court.     By  a  legal   fiction  this  writ,   the 
fundamental    suggestion    of   which    could    not    be 
traversed,   was  extended  to  all  litigants  without 
distinction,  and  the  determination  of  the  resulting 
suits  came  to  be  the  main  business  of  the  Barons, 
to  the  detriment  of  the  proper  functions   of  the 
Court.     Tiie  "  Exchequer  of  Pleas  "  has,  accord- 
ingly,  its  own  series   of  Plea   Rolls,   and   all  the 
corresponding  records  of  a  Common   Law   Court. 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE         33 

A  special  branch  of  its  business  was  the  trial  of 
all  suits  relating  to  tithes.  There  is  a  separate 
Calendar  of  these  extending  from  the  reign  of 
Edward  IV.  to  that  of  George  III.^ 

Common  Law  Courts. 

The  proper  Court  for  all  civil  pleas  was  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  established  by  virtue  of 
I^Iagna  Charta  in  a  fixed  place,  normally  at  West- 
minster, while  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  followed 
the  King.  This  latter,  originally  a  Court  for  all 
purposes,  was  thus  limited  to  criminal  matters 
and  such  civil  matters  as  directly  affected  the 
King.  Here  also  a  series  of  legal  fictions  threw 
the  Court  open  to  all  civil  pleas,  so  that,  until  the 
Judicature  Act,  there  were  three  Courts  of  Common 
Law  having,  substantially,  the  same  field  of  action 
and  competing  with  each  other  for  business. 
The  system  of  Legal  Fictions,  by  means  of  which 
they  competed  amongst  themselves,  was  also 
employed  to  provide  a  legal  remedy  in  cases, 
such  as  those  of  Contract,  in  which  the  Court  of 
Chancery  at  first  afforded  the  only  civil  means 
of  redress. 

*  Sscond  Report  of  Deputy  Keeper,  App.  II.,  pp.  249-272. 


34         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

Palatine  Jurisdictions. 

Certain  parts  of  England  were  beyond  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Courts.  The  County  of  Lancaster 
was  a  Palatinate,  with  a  Common  Law  jurisdiction 
of  its  own,  and  an  equity  jurisdiction  embracing 
all  lands  held  of  the  Duchy  in  other  counties.  The 
records  of  the  Palatinate  and  the  Duchy  have 
been  separated,  those  formerly  kept  at  Lancaster 
or  Preston  being  regarded  as  records  of  the  Pala- 
tinate, while  those  kept  in  London  are  assigned 
to  the  Duchy.  Both  sets  are  now  at  the  Public 
Record  Office,  and  comprise  between  them  sub- 
stantially the  same  classes  of  documents  as  those 
already  described.  The  same  is  true  of  the  Pala- 
tinates of  Chester  and  Durham  and  the  Courts  of 
Wales  and  the  Marches,  but  the  records  of  the 
Palatinate  of  Ely  are  still  at  Ely. 

Spiritual  Courts. 

Such  of  the  records  of  the  Spiritual  Courts  as 
have  come  into  the  hands  of  the  Crown  are  preserved 
either  at  the  Registry  of  the  Court  of  Probate  at 
Somerset  House,  or  in  the  provincial  Probate 
registries;  the  rest  are  still  in  ecclesiastical  custody. 
The  records,  however,  of  the  Court  of  Delegates, 
established  by  Henry  VIII.  to  replace  the  Papal 


TIIE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE  35 

Court  as  a  Court  of  Appeal  in  ecclesiastical  cases, 
are  at  the  Public  Record  Office.  It  also  heard 
appeals  from  the  Instance  Jurisdiction  of  the 
High  Court  of  Admiralty.  In  1832  the  duties 
of  this  Court  were  transferred  to  the  Privy  Council, 
and  the  records  of  these  appeal  cases  are  also  at 
the  Record  Office. 

Privy  Seal  and  Secretary  of  State. 

In  this  cursory  sketch  of  the  various  departments 
existing  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  of  their  subsequent 
development,  we  have  omitted  to  survey  the 
secondary  institutions  which  arose  in  the  natural 
course  so  soon  as  the  forms  of  the  primary  in- 
stitutions became  stereotyped  and  inelastic.  The 
new  machine  stood  behind  the  old  and  took  up 
its  original  functions.  Thus  the  Keeper  of  the 
Privy  Seal  succeeded  to  the  secretarial  duties  of 
the  Chancellor,  to  be  ultimately  replaced  by  the 
keeper  of  the  Signet,  the  Secretary  of  State. 
Neither  of  these  offices  in  early  times  kept  any 
register,  and  such  of  their  records  as  survive 
are  distributed  between  the  Chancery  and  the 
Exchequer,  being  either  deposited  for  safe  custody, 
or  serving  as  warrants  for  the  issue  respectively 
of  letters  under  the  Great  Seal  and  of  sums  of 
money.     In  the  latter  case  they  are  more  properly 


36         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

regarded  as  records  of  the  office  which  filed  them 
than  of  that  which  issued  them.  The  docu- 
ments, however,  which  were  filed  as  warrants 
in  the  Privy  Seal  office  form  two  classes  in  the 
Treasury  of  the  Receipt  of  the  Exchequer,  called, 
respectively,  "  Warrants  for  the  Privy  Seal,"  consist- 
ing mainly  of  letters  under  the  Signet,  and  "  Council 
and  Privy  Seal,"  containing  Council  Warrants  and 
Miscellanea.  The  relics  of  the  early  records  of 
the  Secretaries  of  State  must  be  sought  among  the 
"  Ancient  Correspondence "  and  "  Ancient  Pe- 
titions "  which  have  been  collected  from  the 
Miscellanea  of  the  Chancery  and  the  Exchequer: 
the  latter  will  be  described  presently  as  "  State 
Papers." 

Wardrobe  and  Chamber. 

Behind  the  Exchequer  in  like  manner  there 
persisted  the  Departments  of  the  Wardrobe  and 
the  Chamber  which  were  concerned  with  the  King's 
private  revenues  and  expenses.  The  wardrobe,  until 
about  1320,  not  only  kept  the  household  accounts, 
but  also  those  of  naval,  military,  and  diplomatic 
expenditure.  When  this  task  had  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  Exchequer,  it  remained  as  the  ac- 
counting office  of  the  Household,  and  was  finally 
divided  into  the  departments  of  the  Lord  Steward 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE         37 

and  the  Lord  Chamberlain.  In  its  carHcr  stages 
the  Wardrobe  was  a  depository  of  diplomatic 
records,  and  was  intimately  connected  with  the 
office  of  the  Privy  Seal.  Its  records,  before  the 
sixteenth  century,  will  be  found  among  the 
"  Accounts,"  etc.  of  the  Exchequer,  but  a  large 
proportion  of  them  is  in  private  hands.  The 
"  Wardrobe  Books,"  containing  detailed  accounts 
of  household  expenditure,  include  interesting 
particulars  of  offerings  at  the  shrines  of  saints  and 
of  purchases  of  church  plate  and  vestments.  The 
Chamber  administered  certain  estates  which  were 
from  time  to  time  assigned  to  it,  and  did  not 
as  a  rule  account  to  the  Exchequer.  It  also 
financed  military  expeditions,  and  other  matters 
in  which  the  Exchequer  would  have  been  too 
cumbrous.  In  this  latter  capacity  it  formed  the 
foundation  of  the  modern  Treasury.  In  the 
former  it  was  ultimately  absorbed  by  the  Land 
Revenue  Branch  of  the  Exchequer  already 
described. 

State  Papers. 

With  the  sixteenth  century  begins  the  great 
class  of  "  State  Papers,"  which  came  into  the 
Public  Record  Office  in  1852,  when  it  absorbed  the 
State  Paper  Office  founded  by  Elizabeth  in  1578 
to  take  charge  of  the  papers  of  the  Secretaries  of 


38         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

State,  which  were  finding  their  way  into  private 
hands.  Originally  mere  clerks  or  private  secre- 
taries of  the  King,  these  officers  had  taken  the 
place  of  the  Keeper  of  the  Privy  Seal  for  all  less 
formal  business  precisely  as  the  latter  had  super- 
seded the  Chancellor.  Through  them  the  King 
kept  himself  informed  of  all  home  and  foreign 
affairs;  they  drafted  warrants,  wrote  instructions, 
attended  the  meetings  of  the  Council,  and  kept  up 
a  regular  correspondence  with  diplomatic  and  other 
agents  abroad.  From  the  first  foundation  of  the 
State  Paper  Office  these  papers  were  divided 
roughly  into  two  series.  Domestic  and  Foreign,  a 
third  series,  Colonial,  being  afterwards  added. 

For  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  the  two  series. 
Domestic  and  Foreign,  have  been  amalgamated, 
and  bound  up  in  chronological  order.  They  con- 
sist of  Letters  received  and  drafts  of  Letters  sent 
out.  They  are  of  great  importance  for  Church 
history,  containing  all  the  negotiations  for  the 
divorce  of  Henry  VIII. ,  the  papers  relating  to  the 
suppression  of  the  monasteries,  and  to  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  constitution  of  the  Established  Church. 

The  Domestic  scries,  which  begins  with 
Edward  VI.,  carries  on  the  same  subject.  It  con- 
sists of  two  main  classes — the  loose  papers,  con- 
sisting of  letters  and  drafts,  and  the  Entry  Books, 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE         39 

containing  copies  of  the  letters  signed  respectively 
by  the  King  and  by  the  two  secretaries,  each  of 
whom  kept  his  own  book.  There  are  also  Warrant 
Books  and  Docket  Books  relating  to  the  issue  of 
Signet  Letters. 

Special  series  have  been  formed,  beginning  with 
Henry  VIIL,  for  the  papers  relating  to  Scotland 
and  Ireland,  the  former  of  which  was,  until  1G03, 
regarded  as  a  foreign  country.  The  Border  Papers, 
consisting  of  correspondence  with  the  Wardens  of 
the  Marches  and  the  Council  of  the  North,  form  a 
separate  series. 

The  distinction  between  loose  papers  and  Entry 
Books  subsists  also  in  the  State  Papers  Foreign. 
There  is  a  general  series  of  correspondence,  ex- 
tending from  1547  to  1577,  including  both  letters 
and  drafts,  and  arranged  chronologically.  After 
1577,  the  correspondence  is  subdivided  according 
to  the  countries  to  w^hich  it  relates.  After  1688, 
special  series  begin  for  Royal  Letters  and  Corre- 
spondence with  Foreign  Ministers  resident  at 
the  English  Court.  News  Letters,  Treaties,  and 
Treaty  Papers  form  separate  series;  and  so  do  the 
Archives  of  the  several  embassies.  The  "  State 
Papers  "  go  down  to  1780.  From  1781  this  series 
is  classified  as  Foreign  Office  Records,  that  Office 
having  been  established  in  1782. 


40         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

Privy  Council. 

Closely  connected  with  the  State  Papers  are  the 
registers  of  the  Privy  Council.  These  begin  in 
1540:  such  proceedings  as  survive  from  earlier 
dates  will  be  found  in  the  Chancery  and  Exchequer 
classes  of  Parliamentary  and  Council  proceedings, 
and  among  the  Warrants  for  the  Great  and  Privy 
Seals  respectively.  Many  of  them  are  among 
the  Cotton  MSS.  at  the  British  Museum,  and  from 
them,  and  Rymer's  transcripts  of  documents  now 
at  the  Public  Record  Office,  Nicolas  printed  his 
"Proceedings  and  Ordinances  of  the  Privy  Council." 
The  Registers  have  been  printed  from  1542  to 
1604,  and  the  entries  relating  to  the  Colonies 
calendared  from  1613  to  1783. 

Departmental  Records. 

The  Departmental  Records,  which  are  not 
technically  in  the  custody  of  the  Master  of  the 
Rolls,  continue  the  series  already  described.  Thus 
from  1782  the  Home  Office  Records  take  the  place 
of  State  Papers  Domestic,  and  with  them  are 
grouped  the  records  of  the  Privy  Seal  and  the 
Signet.  Privy  Seal  Office  Records  form  a  separate 
class;  the  Signet  Office  was  not  disestablished  till 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.     A  special 


THE  rUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE  41 

series  of  Church  Books  contains  entries  of  War- 
rants, Presentations,  and  Ecclesiastical  Prefer- 
ments. 

The  Foreign  Office  Records  continue  the  State 
Papers  Foreign  from  1782. 

There  is  no  distinct  class  of  State  Papers  Colonial. 
They  are  all  included  in  a  general  series. 

The  Colonial  Office  Records  take  the  place  of 
the  State  Papers  Colonial  from  1699,  and  include 
the  records  of  the  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council 
for  Trade  and  Plantations  up  to  1782,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 

The  Public  Record  Office  also  contains  the  records 
of  the  Admiralty;  the  War  Office;  the  Audit  Office, 
which  carries  on  the  series  of  Accounts  and  Vouchers 
formerly  falling  into  the  Exchequer;  the  Board 
of  Trade,  which  succeeded  to  the  functions  of  the 
Committee  of  Council  for  Trade  from  1784;  the 
Customs,  the  Office  of  Works,  and  the  Treasury, 
all  of  which  carry  on  the  work  of  the  old  Exchequer; 
the  Lord  Chamberlain  and  the  Lord  Steward, 
who  have  succeeded  to  the  duties  of  the  Wardrobe ; 
and  the  Ecclesiastical  Commission,  which  holds 
the  Court  Rolls,  Ministers'  Accounts,  and  Rentals 
of  early  date  relating  to  the  property  of  the  various 
Sees  and  Chapters  which  it  administers.  It  also 
contains    the    records    of    various    expired    Com- 


42  THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

missions.  Most  of  these  are  open  to  the  pubUc 
down  to  1837,  but  in  some  cases,  particularly  that 
of  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners,  a  permit 
from  the  department  is  required. 

Calendars  and  Indexes. 

The  means  of  reference  to  all  these  documents 
is  by  printed  and  manuscript  Calendars  and 
Indexes.  A  Calendar  is  a  book  containing  ab- 
stracts of  the  contents  of  the  documents  in  many 
cases  sufficiently  full  to  dispense  the  ordinary 
student  from  the  necessity  of  consulting  the 
originals.  An  Index  is  a  list,  alphabetical  or  other- 
wise, merely  indicating  the  subject  of  the  documents. 

The  principal  series  of  Calendars  are  the  follow- 
ing: 

The  Patent  Rolls  have  been  printed  in  full 
down  to  1232,  and  calendared  to  1509.  From 
that  date  they  are  included  in  the  general  Calendar 
of  "  Letters  and  Papers  "  of  Henry  VIII.  The 
Close  Rolls  have  been  printed  in  full  from  1204 
to  1247,  and  are  to  be  printed  down  to  1272. 
Thev  have  been  calendared  from  1272  to  1381. 
The  Fine  Rolls  are  printed  to  1216,  the  genealogical 
entries  only  are  printed  from  1216  to  1272,  and  the 
rolls  are  calendared  from  1272  to  1347.  The  Charter 
Rolls  are  printed  for  the  reigns  of  Edward  I.  and 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE  43 

down  to  1216,  and  calendared  from  1216  to  1417. 
The  Liberate  Rolls  are  calendared  from  their 
beginning  in  1226  to  1240.  The  Inquisitions  Post 
Mortem  are  calendared  down  to  1351  and  from 
1485  to  1506,  and  the  IMiscellancous  Inquisitions 
to  1349.  The  principal  entries  in  the  Treaty  Rolls 
are  printed  in  Rymer's  "  Fcedera,"  and  briefly 
calendared  down  to  1485  in  Carte's  "  Roles  Gas- 
cons." The  Gascon  Rolls  are  also  calendared  by 
Carte,  and  printed  in  full  by  the  French  Govern- 
ment to  the  end  of  Edward  I.  There  is  a  printed 
list  of  all  the  Chancery  Rolls.  The  Rolls  of 
Parliament  have  been  printed  down  to  1553. 

Most  of  the  Exchequer  records  are  uncalendared. 
Domesday  Book  is  printed  in  full  and  also  fac- 
similed. The  "  Pipe  Rolls "  of  Henry  I.  and 
Henry  II.  have  mostly  been  printed  by  the  Record 
Commission  and  the  Pipe  Roll  Society.  There  are 
printed  lists  of  the  principal  Enrolled  Accounts 
and  of  the  particulars  and  vouchers  called 
"  Accounts,"  etc. 

The  Calendar  of  "  Letters  and  Papers,  Henry 
VIII."  includes  all  the  documents  in  the  Public 
Record  Office  for  the  period  which  are  of  obvious 
historical  importance,  together  with  many  similar 
documents  in  the  British  Museum,  and  others 
in  foreign  archives  of  which  transcripts  exist  at 


44  THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

the  Public  Record  Office.  This  forms  the 
Hnk  between  the  Mediaeval  and  the  State  Paper 
Calendars. 

From  the  end  of  Henry  VIII.  onwards  the 
Calendars  are  limited  to  documents  in  the  Public 
Record  Office,  and  transcripts  made  for  it  of 
documents  in  foreign  archives.  The  State  Papers 
Domestic  are  complete,  but  for  two  short  breaks 
(1680-1689,  1697-1702),  down  to  1703;  the  Foreign 
to  1585;  Scottish  to  1603,  but  the  Scottish  Office 
is  replacing  this  brief  Calendar  by  a  more  extended 
one;  Colonial: — East  Indies  to  1659,  including  the 
continuation  published  by  the  India  Office; 
America  and  West  Indies  to  1708.  The  "  Journal 
of  the  Commissioners  of  Trade  and  Plantations" 
is  printed  in  full  from  1704  to  February,  1708- 
1709. 

Of  the  Departmental  Records,  the  Treasury 
Books  and  Papers  are  calendared  down  to  1745, 
but  between  1685  and  1730  the  Books  are  still 
uncalendared,  and  the  Home  Office  Papers  (now 
classed  as  State  Papers  Domestic)  are  calendared 
from  1760  to  1775. 

The  most  interesting,  ecclesiastically,  of  the 
calendars  of  documents  in  Foreign  Archives  is 
that  of  the  Papal  Registers,  which  includes  Papal 
Letters   from   1198   to   1455   and   Petitions   from 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE        45 

1342  to  1419,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the  affairs 
of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland.  A  small 
proportion  relate  to  matters  of  political  interest, 
but  the  vast  majority  are  purely  administrative, 
and  illustrate  the  activity  of  the  Papal  Court  as 
a  final  Court  of  Appeal,  and  its  constant  interfer- 
ence in  ecclesiastical  promotions  and  appointments, 
notwithstanding  the  English  statutes  to  the  con- 
trary. Another  Calendar,  for  the  reign  of  Elizabeth, 
deals  with  the  reports  of  Papal  Nuncios  to  various 
European  Courts,  and  other  documents  of  the 
nature  of  State  Papers.  This  extends  from  1558 
to  1571. 

Similar  series  deal  with  documents  at  Venice 
from  1202  to  1629;  at  Simancas,  Brussels,  and 
Vienna  from  1485  to  1553,  with  abstracts  of  printed 
documents  from  Simancas  from  1558  to  1603; 
and  at  Milan  from  1385  to  1618.  There  is  also 
a  calendar  of  early  documents  in  France  down  to 
1206,  which  is  valuable  for  the  history  of  the 
possessions  of  French  religious  houses  in  England, 
and  for  the  genealogy  of  the  families  who  gave  the 
estates  in  question. 

There  is  also  a  printed  Catalogue  of  about 
27,000  Ancient  Deeds,  many  relating  to  possessions 
of  religious  houses. 


46         THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE 

Hints  to  Students. 

Besides  the  printed  Calendars  described  there  are 
manuscript  Calendars,  less  detailed,  but  covering 
longer  periods,  and  printed  and  manuscript  lists, 
which  are  available  for  searchers. 

In  emphasising  the  points  in  which  the  Public 
Records  affect  ecclesiastical  history,  it  may  seem 
as  though  their  general  historical  value  was  ignored. 
But  on  reflection  this  will  be  seen  to  be  untrue. 
On  looking  through  the  list  of  materials  the  pure 
historian    will    fasten   on   the   State   Papers,    the 
Chancery  Rolls,  the  Parliamentary  Records,   the 
Ancient   Correspondence   and   Petitions,   the   Ex- 
chequer Accounts  and  their  Enrolments,  and  the 
Memoranda  Rolls  ;  the  Lawyer  will  turn  to  the  Plea 
Rolls  and  the  Chancery  proceedings;   the  Genea- 
logist to  the  Inquisitions  Post  Mortem,  the  Sub- 
sidy Rolls  (those  at  least  which  contain  lists  of 
names),  the  Feet  of  Fines,  and  the  Plea  Rolls;  the 
Topographer  to  the  same  set  of  records  and  to  the 
Rentals   and   Surveys,   Ministers'    and    Receivers' 
Accounts.     To  deal  with  all  these  in  detail  would 
enlarge  this  tract  without  materially  adding  to  its 
usefulness,  and  would  end  in  a  vain  effort  to  dis- 
place the  existing  "Guide"  to  which  the  inquirer 
is   hereby    referred   for   further   information.     He 


THE  PUBLIC  RECORD  OFFICE         47 

must  also  bear  in  mind  that,  in  a  sketch  hke  the 
present,  exact  statement  of  the  facts  in  adminis^ 
trative  history  is  neither  possible  nor  desirable, 
and  regard  this  pamphlet  as  containing  only 
such  an  approximation  to  tlie  truth  as  its  scale 
demands. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  add 
two  cautions.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  unwise  to 
begin  research  on  manuscript  material  without 
having  exhausted  the  printed  sources,  and  without 
acquiring  some  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the 
documents  consulted,  and  the  languages  in  which 
they  are  couched.  It  is  especially  necessary  to 
study  the  machinery  of  administration  lying 
behind  the  documents.  Secondly,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  series  are  more  or  less  im- 
perfect, and  need  to  be  supplemented  by  the  study 
of  similar  documents,  of  which  there  are  many, 
in  the  British  Museum  and  in  private  hands.  For 
the  later  period,  particularly,  say,  from  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  full  use  should  be  made  of  the  reports 
of  the  Historical  Manuscripts  Commission,  as  well 
as  of  biographies,  collections  of  letters,  and  so 
forth.  In  many  cases  the  most  important  materials 
are  not  in  official  custody  at  all. 


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TEXT 


1205  00150 


TS. 


277 


1. 


SELECT  PASSAGES  from  Josephus,  Tacitus,  Suetonius/^ 
Cassias.  Illustrative  of  Christianity  in  the  First  Century. 
Arranged  by  H.  J.  White,  D.D.    3d.  net. 


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J.  Skeel,  9d.  net. 


o. 
4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 
8. 

9. 
10. 

n. 

22. 
15. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 


Arranged  by  C.  A. 
Arranged  by 


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